Department
The Geophysical Laboratory at the High Seas
Updated by Dionysis Foustoukos 
High Pressure
Throwing out the textbook: salt surprises chemists
Washington, DC—Table salt, sodium chloride, is one of the first chemical compounds that schoolchildren learn. Standard chemistry textbooks say that sodium and chlorine have very different electronegativities and thus must form an ionic compound with a well-defined composition.
Department
AGU 2013 Fall Meeting
The Week in Review:  
Mineralogy
Ancient Minerals: Which Gave Rise to Life?
Washington, DC— Life originated as a result of natural processes that exploited early Earth’s raw materials.
High Pressure
Pressure Reveals Secret of Magnetorestrictive FeGa Alloy
Washington, DC, 12 November 2013—Galfenol is a new class of iron-based, magnetic Fe1-xGax alloy that exhibits giant magnetostriction.
Geochemistry
Evidence of 3.5 billion-year-old bacterial ecosystems found in Australia
Audio
Probing methane's secrets: From diamonds to Neptune
Washington, DC—Hydrocarbons from the Earth make up the oil and gas that heat our homes and fuel our cars.
High Pressure
Supercharged Carbon
A research team from the Geophysical Laboratory, including Oleksandr Kurakevych, Timothy Strobel, Duck Young Kim and George Cody, has reported the synthesis of an ionic semiconductor, Mg2C, under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions, which is fully recoverable to ambient conditions.
Department
Story of Earth Collecting Honors
The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, From Stardust to Living Planet, written by the Geophysical Laboratory's Bob Hazen, has been chosen from books released in 2012 as one of the five titles on the short list for the current Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, one of the three book awards given by Phi Beta Kappa annually.
High Pressure
Deep Earth Heat Surprise
Washington, DC—The key to understanding Earth’s evolution is to look at how heat is conducted in the deep lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 miles (660 to 2,900 kilometers) below the surface.
High Pressure
How Does Hydrogen Metallize?
Washington, DC— Hydrogen is deceptively simple. It has only a single electron per atom, but it powers the sun and forms the majority of the observed universe. As such, it is naturally exposed to the entire range of pressures and temperatures available in the whole cosmos.
High Pressure
Will room-temperature superconductors become an everyday reality?
Washington, DC—Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity—maintain a flow of electrons—without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materials under specific low-temperature and high-pressure conditions.
High Pressure
Seeing Structures at Depth
Washington, DC, 19 June 2013--Using novel high-pressure x-ray techniques, Geophysical Laboratory scientists Li Zhang, Yue Meng (HPCAT), Wenge Yang (HPSync), and Ho-kwang Mao, along with CDAC Partner Wendy Mao (Stanford) and colleagues from the University of Chicago have obtained the very first single-crystal structure of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 postperovskite phase under high pressure corresponding to the condition in the Earth’s D′′ layer.
High Pressure
Unfrozen mystery: H2O reveals a new secret
Washington, DC—Using revolutionary new techniques, a team led by Carnegie’s Malcolm Guthrie has made a striking discovery about how ice behaves under pressure, changing ideas that date back almost 50 years.
High Pressure
Dense Hydrogen in a New Light
Washington, DC—Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. The way it responds under extreme pressures and temperatures is crucial to our understanding of matter and the nature of hydrogen-rich planets.  
Department
Geophysical Laboratory Citation Classics
The most highly cited Geophysical Laboratory papers of the past forty years demonstrate the breadth and evolution of science in the department, ranging from seminal discoveries to breakthroughs in technique, spanning small research teams to large-scale collaborations.
High Pressure
Nanotechnology Imaging Breakthrough
Washington, DC— A team of researchers has made a major breakthrough in measuring the structure of nanomaterials under extremely high pressures.
Department
Matter Under Extremes
The study of matter at extreme conditions represents a forefront area of research activity across the sciences, including physics, chemistry, materials science and even biology.
Geochemistry
Mineral diversity clue to early Earth chemistry
Washington, DC— Mineral evolution is a new way to look at our planet’s history.
Department
Presenting Prewittite
A team of researchers in Russia - including scientists at St. Petersburg State University, the Institute of Volcanology at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the firm Mechanobr-Analit in St.
Department
Carbon in Earth
Carbon in Earth -- The Deep Carbon Observatory has released its first major collective publication, Carbon in Earth, found here. 
Planetary Science
First Meteorite Linked to Martian Crust
Washington, DC—After extensive analyses by a team of scientists led by Carl Agee at the University of New Mexico, researchers have identified a new class of Martian meteorite that likely originated from Mars’s crust.
High Pressure
A Cagey Metal
Washington, DC, 21 December 2012 — Researchers from the Geophysical Laboratory have observed a new compound form of sodium and silicon - a "covalent metal," with unusual structural and electrical properties.
High Pressure
Building better structural materials
Washington, DC — When materials are stressed, they eventually change shape. Initially these changes are elastic, and reverse when the stress is relieved. When the material’s strength is exceeded, the changes become permanent.
High Pressure
Magnesium oxide: From Earth to super-Earth
Washington, DC— The mantles of Earth and other rocky planets are rich in magnesium and oxygen. Due to its simplicity, the mineral magnesium oxide is a good model for studying the nature of planetary interiors.
High Pressure
Simulating Super Earths
Washington, DC, 26 November 2012 -- The Geophysical Laboratory’s Stewart McWilliams and his team find evidence that alters our understanding of planetary evolution.
Materials
Crystals for Efficient Refrigeration
Washington, DC--Researchers at the Carnegie Institution have discovered a new efficient way to pump heat using crystals.
High Pressure
Elusive Metal Discovered
Washington, DC—Carnegie scientists are the first to discover the conditions under which nickel oxide can turn into an electricity-conducting metal.
High Pressure
New form of carbon observed
Washington, DC — A team of scientists led by Carnegie’s Lin Wang has observed a new form of very hard carbon clusters, which are unusual in their mix of crystalline and disordered structure. The material is capable of indenting diamond.
Department
The Search Begins
Washington, DC, 6 August 2012 -- NASA’s rover Curiosity, the size of a small car, touched down in a Martian crater early Monday. Geophysical Laboratory scientists are contributing to the mission.
Geochemistry
New clues to the early Solar System from ancient meteorites
Washington, DC — In order to understand Earth's earliest history--its formation from Solar System material into the present-day layering of metal core and mantle, and crust--scientists look to meteorites.
Planetary Science
Watering the Earth
Washington, DC, 12 July 2012 — New research led by Carnegie scientists indicates that frozen water distributed throughout much of the early Solar System is the source of water on Earth. 
Mineralogy
Mercury mineral evolution
Washington, DC — Mineral evolution posits that Earth’s near-surface mineral diversity gradually increased through an array of chemical and biological processes.
Planetary Science
Organic carbon from Mars, but not biological
Washington, DC — Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen--the building blocks of all life on Earth--have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day.
High Pressure
More to Store
Washington, DC, 4 May 2012- A collaborative experimental effort with Carnegie researchers has discovered unknown properties of a computer memory material that will allow for faster data transfer with a higher capacity of data stored.
High Pressure
Probing hydrogen under extreme conditions
Washington, DC — How hydrogen--the most abundant element in the cosmos--responds to extremes of pressure and temperature is one of the major challenges in modern physical science.
High Pressure
Tungsten Takes on Hydrogen
Washington, DC, 28 March 2012- A Carnegie scientists' observations have led the way to stabilizing tungsten hydrides under high pressure.
High Pressure
Disappearing and reappearing superconductivity surprises scientists
Washington, DC — Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity—maintain a flow of electrons—without any resistance.
High Pressure
Clathrate Structure by Neutrons
Washington, DC, 21 February 2012- In a combined experimental effort researchers from the Geophysical Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences now have a better understanding of a form of high pressure methane clathrate hydrate.
Materials
Making Multicarat Diamond
Washington, DC, 12 January 2012- Carnegie Researchers report advances in the synthesis of multicarat colorless single-crystal diamond by chemical vapor deposition techniques.
High Pressure
A New Kind of Metal in the Deep Earth
Washington, DC—The crushing pressures and intense temperatures in Earth’s deep interior squeeze atoms and electrons so closely together that they interact very differently. With depth materials change.
High Pressure
Tuning Hydrogen Bonds With Pressure
Washington, DC,16 December 2011- Carnegie scientists have discovered a new compound composed of H2S and H2. The results further elucidate the role of pressure on intermolecular interactions in molecular compounds.
High Pressure
Earth’s core deprived of oxygen
Washington, DC — The composition of the Earth’s core remains a mystery. Scientists know that the liquid outer core consists mainly of iron, but it is believed that small amounts of some other elements are present as well.
High Pressure
New form of superhard carbon observed
Washington, DC — Carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite.
Astrobiology
Diamonds and Deep Carbon Cycling
Washington, DC, 15 September 2011- New research provides direct evidence that the carbon from the Earth's surface can cycle deep into the mantle and then brought back.
High Pressure
Superdense Aluminum from Ultrafast Micro-Explosions
Washington, DC, 15 September 2011- A new study including Wenge Yang from Carnegie reveals a new phase of high energy Aluminum produced using an ultrafast laser induced confined micro-explosion inside a sapphire.
Department
Carnegie’s Timothy Strobel to Receive Jamieson Award
Washington, DC—Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory’s newest staff member, Timothy Strobel, will be given the prestigious Jamieson Award on September 26, 2011, from the International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology in Mumbai, India.
Planetary Science
Meteorites: Tool kits for creating life on Earth
Washington, DC—Meteorites hold a record of the chemicals that existed in the early Solar System and that may have been a crucial source of the organic compounds that gave rise to life on Earth.
Department
Perret at Sakurajima 1914
Washington, DC, 3 August 2011- An album of fifty hand-colored photographs documenting Japan’s most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th Century was donated to the Geophysical Laboratory’s archives recently by Susan W. Kieffer.
High Pressure
Searching for the “perfect glass”
Washington, DC—Glasses differ from crystals. Crystals are organized in repeating patterns that extend in every direction. Glasses lack this strict organization, but do sometimes demonstrate order among neighboring atoms.

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